


147 Days

by marvelmedigeekfics



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Family, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:06:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28662192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelmedigeekfics/pseuds/marvelmedigeekfics
Summary: Whew!! Finally got this old af tumblr draft out!! I think it's bad, but maybe you don't. ??? It's finished and it's something, so i digress!
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Firehouse 118 Crew, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Howie "Chimney" Han, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Howie "Chimney" Han & Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Maddie Buckley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29
Collections: 9-1-1 Tales





	147 Days

147 days. That’s how many days it has been since Buck transferred to station 219. He has new friends now. A new captain, who isn’t Chimney. He has gotten used to his new place, works in harmony with his new crew. But he still misses the 118. He doesn’t regret transferring, because he saves people again, but he misses his old station nonetheless.

147 days. That’s how many days it has been with the new recruit. When Buck was a fresh hire, Hen had compared Buck to a golden retriever. The recruit that replaced him was a cat. Moody, moody, and moody. Some days the guy was extremely chill and rolled with the punches. Others, he was downright mean. They couldn’t fire him, he was too good. Too good at avoiding trouble, that is. He knew just when to bow out and lay low, and for such, he never got written up for insubordination.

147 days. That was how long it had been since the badass under pressure brothers had worked together. Now Eddie was like a lone wolf. Since losing the golden, he was a little tougher. Where Buck had softened him a little, he had turned into steel after Buck transferred.

147 days. That was how long it had been since Hen had had someone to tease. Sure she could tease Chim or Eddie or even Bobby, but there was something about the banter she had with Buck that made him hard to replace.

147 days. That was how long it had been since Chim had seen Buck apart from his sister. Buck didn’t live on his floor anymore, so the only place Chim saw him was when he was with Maddie. Though he was the one to spend the most time with him, Chim still missed his little brother. He was a bother sometimes, but he was still family.

147 days. That was how long it had been since Bobby had seen his pseudo-son. He missed the blond, his quickness, his kindness, his hopefulness. Buck affected Bobby in every part of his life, and it was hard to be okay with not seeing him around the house anymore.

The 118 missed Buck, even if they didn’t admit it. Buck missed the 118 and he’d be the first to admit it.

—

The 118 had been normal when the last earthquake hit. That seemed so long ago, but really it had only been a year and a half. Buck had a new partner this time: Paige Marcino. The 219 had been called to a school, and Buck’s heart panged to think of Christopher. He missed the kid, but there was no time to dwell on that. Buck had a job to do. Most of the classrooms were emptied already, and Buck and Paige were in the last classroom. They had just gotten to the doorway when the floor began to shake. 

"Get down! Everybody get down!" The kids had seen the firefighters and moved too soon. Much too soon. The ceiling cracked and began to crumble to the floor. Paige and Buck both dove over the unprotected kids and waited for it to stop. It finally did and Buck let out the breath he had been holding. 

"Everybody okay? Anyone hurt?" Buck called out to the silent and terrified children. Paige seconded his words and everyone answered except for one. 

"Jeremy?" The teacher said. One of the children pointed to the broken teacher's desk. Buck and Paige both headed toward it, bracing themselves. The kid had a piece of metal sticking from his thigh. His eyes were closed and he was growing paler by the second. 

"Paige, take the kids out. I have this." Paige nodded and began gathering the kids up. Buck looked in her direction for a second but then turned his attention to Jeremy. 

"Hey, kid. What's your name?" Buck tried to keep his voice light and steady. 

"Jer..emy.." The kid said, grimacing in pain. "What..happ..en..ed?" 

"There was an earthquake and you got hurt, buddy."

"How..hurt..?" Buck debated whether to tell him the truth or hide it from him. 

"You have a piece of metal in your thigh." By the time the kid could even process it, Buck had the tourniquet fastened securely and was checking him for other injuries. None. Good. "I'm going to get you out of here, kid. I don't want you to talk very much, but try to stay awake. Okay?" 

The kid nodded in reply, and Buck began to carry him out. He was mindful of the piece of metal and tried to keep it still. It wasn't easy, especially with the twinges of pain in his leg. Why did it have to be today? But he made it out, and the kid was good. He was breathing better, the tourniquet doing well at stemming the blood loss. The kid made it, but Buck wasn't sure about himself, that he'd make it through the day.

\---

The 118's first call was to a mall. This was tricky for a number of reasons. Number one, it was Saturday. Number two, it was 2:47 when the first quake hit. Number three, the newest recruit had already refused to go in. They were down a member and up against a delicate building filled with people. One step at a time, Hen kept saying to herself. The first step would be going in. Second step, dealing with reality. People were dead. Two main support beams had crashed through the middle of the building, pulling down most of the room and crushing the middle of the mall. Bobby had split up the paramedics and instructed the pairs to split up. Cover more ground, hopefully save more people. 

Hen was with Bobby and they went right, climbing over the shredded metal and splintered fabric. On their right was the pet store, complete with cats meowing and dogs thrashing at their kennels. Bobby radioed for a few more hands to transport the animals and Hen headed to the clerk. 

“I’m Hen, what’s your name?” Hen said, surveying her patient for any injuries.

“I’m Naomi and I’m okay, but my boss, Felix? How is he? He’s in the back.” 

Hen craned her neck around the counter and saw the man, a metal cage punctured into his stomach. She ran to him and began her training. Airway, breathing, circulation. He was breathing well. Good, good. She looked around for something to take apart this cage, and her eyes settled on the wire cutters across the room. Perfect. She ran, scooped them up, and began cutting off the cage. Felix’s eyes sputtered open and the first words out of his mouth were about his pets. 

“People are carrying them out right now, sir. Try not to move, you have a cage impaling you right now.” Hen pressed her gauze to the puncture wounds, trying to keep the door part from moving and exacerbating the direness of being impaled in three places.

By the time the owner was on a backboard, Bobby had already moved all of the animals out of the building. “At least you’re not allergic to cats,” Hen said, looking over the store one last time before moving on to the next one.

\--

The 219 was putting out little fires for their three calls until they were called to the mall. It wasn’t that Buck didn’t want to help people there, it was that this made him miss his old station. As terrifying as the elevator thing was, he missed it. Paige was great, but she wasn’t Eddie. She wasn’t Hen, or Chim, or Bobby. But that ship had sailed, and Buck joined a new one. But he missed the old one sometimes. 

He missed the 118, even more, when he saw their numbers emblazoned on their ladder truck. Not the one that crushed his leg of course, but the numbers were the same and the memories came rushing back. 

There was no time for that. Buck had work to do. The 219 went around to the other side. Meet in the middle. The first store on that side is a bookstore. And it’s a mess. Books are strewn everywhere, along with the shelves and everything else.

“LAFD, anyone here?” Paige called to the silence.

“Back here!” A cluster of voices called back. Buck sneezed his way to the people clustered in the back room of the store. Both he and Paige realized what was so wrong bout this at the same time. 

There happened to be a giant beam only held up by a steel bookcase and sheer luck quivering over them. Buck and Paige both knew the odds of coming back from a beam like that. They were fair, not terrible, normally. Unless of course there was a possibility of another aftershock, two air conditioners stacked over the beam each sticking out at dangerous angles and only one way out. 

“We’re going to need back up. Northeast side. Up to 20 people stuck in a back room, unstable conditions.” 

Paige had a way of jumping into things even quicker than Buck did. But she hesitated today, carefully locating the open entrances. Besides the regular door, there happened to be two partial openings that were created when a portion of the room caved in. There was even less of a chance of getting someone out of those, especially with the rest of the room still covered them and the possibility of another aftershock. The last aftershock has still been a 3.2 and had brought down even more of the room. A few more, and there would be no more saving. 

The 20 or so people stuck back there seemed to be a group of college-aged nerds, who all seemed pretty nonchalant. Better than belligerent, as Buck liked to say. Paige was doing her best to find the most stable way to get them free, while Buck explained the situation to the backup that had arrived. 

A consensus was reached to get people out of all three escapes at the same time, as quickly as possible. Each had their challenges of course, and a lot of luck would be needed. 

Buck and 2 others took the beam route. The gap was barely wide enough for them, but they made it. If Buck’s nerves hadn’t already been fried, they would have been. 

The center team managed to get three out before the building started shaking. The backup team of 4 from the 442 left behind half of their people, and the other two took the rescued people to the outside of the mall. Paige, Buck, and the two others (Kylie and Zach) stayed behind. Buck and Kylie were stuck on one side, while Paige and Zach prayed and stayed out of the path of debris. Buck and Kylie had no such luxury. Each of them protected the 6 people left. 13 had gotten out of the 19 that were originally there. 

The rumbling finally stopped, and Buck could breathe again. “Everyone okay?” Buck and Kylie almost frantically asked every one of their future rescues. Everyone said they were fine. Good. Good. Good. 

There was a wet stain spreading across Buck’s shoulder, but he didn’t think about it. He couldn’t. Until all of the innocent people were safe. Luckily, the aftershock had moved one of the side paths to be more accessible and everyone got out in one piece. 

The store looked like a disaster area, but neither Buck nor Paige gave a shit. They, along with the 442, had gotten those people out. 

“Buck? You’re bleeding.” Zach got Buck’s attention over the ringing in his ears. “There’s a piece of fan blade in your shoulder.” The words made his adrenaline plummet and the world went dark. 

\--

Almost all of the 118 was still inside the mall when Buck got dragged outside by Paige, Kylie, and Zach. It was a newsworthy story, obviously, because channel 12 seemed more concerned about this unconscious man, that the damage to the mall, which seemed to be crumbling by the minute. 

The 118 thought about Buck throughout the day. Eddie missed his partner and the easy mind-reading thing they did. His new partner, Linc, from B shift, almost clicked with the mind-reading wavelength. But the last time Linc has tossed the ax Eddie needed, it landed four feet from him and threw off the whole balance. So, yes, Eddie missed Buck. But only for his ax-throwing skills. 

Bobby missed the way Buck would selflessly throw himself into danger, damning the consequences. His replacement hadn’t even come into the mall, instead of getting an assignment from incident command to do triage. Yes, Bobby was pissed, but mostly at himself for letting Buck getaway.

Hen missed Buck and the way his presence made everything less shitty and depressing. Maybe it was the hair. 

Chimney had been tagged out by Hen, who claimed she needed to be inside helping someone, absorbing adrenaline from the air in order to calm her nerves. Because he was a good friend, Chim had obliged her request. He was very much surprised to see Buck with a fan blade stuck in his shoulder being loaded into his ambulance. He missed Buck too, but didn’t want, need or expect to see him this way. 

\--

After dropping Buck off at the hospital, and making it back to the mall, where things were settling down a little, Chimney shot off three quick texts. One to Maddie, telling her her brother was in the hospital. One to the fire A shift group chat telling them Buck was in the hospital. And one to Buck, whenever he would happen to get his phone, apologizing for the icey feelings between them. Buck probably wouldn't see it, because that fan blade would definitely require surgery. Buck, of course, would claim it to be just a scratch. Would 219 react the same way 118 would? Doubtful. 

Bobby would look vaguely amused and shift his gaze periodically to make sure Buck wasn't overdoing it. Eddie would probably say shoulder injuries are a bitch, and he would be right. Hen would have some smart quip to fire back with and Chim? Before Buck left, Chim would've joined in with Hen in teasing the newbie as everyone still thought of him, even though Eddie had been there less time. But now, Chimney was keener to notice the nuances of Buck nursing his shoulder or looking away in embarrassment. Things had changed since Buck transferred, sued the station, and Bobby himself. Somethings need space in order to be mended. 

147 seemed like a good number of days of space. At least for Chimney. Say what you will, but Chimney was a little impatient. Once all of 118 was back at the station, Chimney quickly rattled off the situation with Buck. Each member had a varying look of concern for their estranged member. Bobby looked like his normal stoic self, but he had the telltale look of concern that was reserved for Buck. Hen looked stunned and immediately exclaimed her plan to visit him after the shift ended. Eddie looked wistful, in a way, and instantly agreed to accompany Hen. So the four of them, four hours later, appeared in Buck's hospital room. 

When Buck awoke, he was slightly surprised to see Bobby, Chimney, Hen, and Eddie crowded around the right side of his bed. "Hey, guys. What's goin' on?" The four of them looked at each other with confusion, until Maddie appeared in the doorway. "You had shoulder surgery because you got an air conditioner fan blade stuck there." She sipped her coffee to keep from answering any other questions. She seemed to part the Red Sea because the four of his former coworkers parted for her swagger, leaving her a space in the middle of them.

"Why are you guys here?" was Buck's next question. 

"We heard you got hurt, and wanted to visit you," Eddie answers after no one else speaks. Eddie says it like it's simple when it isn't. Maddie sips her coffee with raised eyebrows, especially at Bobby's obvious apprehension. Buck mirrors Bobby. What's unspoken speaks louder than the questions Buck explicitly asks.

There are a few minutes of silence. Save beeping of machines and whoosh of doors, there is nothing except for heavy impending thoughts weighing on everyone's mind. 

"I'm sorry," Bobby says with an air of finality. It comes out smoothly, but quickly. It's been on the tip of his tongue for months, but the courage hasn't been. All at once, everything seems to settle. Buck looks at Bobby like he's a person to him again, and Bobby doesn't look so much like a lost puppy. No one else says anything, and the words sit heavy in the air. 

Maddie, Eddie, Chim and Hen all simultaneously decide to leave the two alone to delve into the things that went so wrong 147 days ago. 

\--

"I'm sorry, ahem, for keeping you away from firefighting after you were cleared. I was scared and I hurt you, because of my, ahem, fear. " Bobby almost seems desperate. Desperate to fix what he broke, and mend what was lost. He stumbles over the words, almost begging for Buck to accept. A moment of contemplation occurs between them until Buck reaches out his hand. Bobby stares at Buck's olive branch like he can't believe that this is really all it took. Amazing what a true apology will do. 

"I forgave you a while ago. I understood where you were coming from after Maddie explained it, but it took me a while to accept that you didn't do that out of malice. But I forgive you. Don't get me wrong, I'm still dealing with being pissed at you for that, but I forgive you because I understand your reasoning now." Buck says it with clarity. He's grown up in 147 days because Maddie dragged him to therapy, even though she won't go herself. 

"I want you back at the 118." Bobby blurts out, after a fairly lengthy conversation about the 118 since Buck's been gone and the 219 in its place. 

"Are you sure?" Buck looks incredulous at the prospect of going home. At least, to a former home. 

"Yes. We don't work without you! Of course, it's your decision, and I, and everyone else, will respect your decision, whatever it may be. But I want you back." 

"I'll think about it." Buck already knows the answer to Bobby's prospect, but a lot of things go into making a change like that. Logistics, for one, which Buck has never liked too, too much. 

\--

Maddie is the first one to return, still sipping on her coffee. She stares at Bobby with carefully veiled vengence, and Buck with tender concern. "I'm good, Mads." Buck smiles at his sister, answering her uspoken question. He's speaking a zeugma, answering both physically and mentally. After all, being back with the 118 was all he ever wanted for months. He'd fought fiercely to not need the 118, the people or the station, and he didn't necessarily need the 118 after being with the 219. But he wanted it, and he'd damn sure take the chance. 

There's no one else he'd rather do the job he loved with. Paige was nice, but she was no Eddie. Badass under pressure brothers had no competition in Buck's heart and mind. Hen and Chimney were family from the moment Buck had joined the station. Bobby had been as well, which would take a while to recreate their former relationship. And 118 was home. 219 was just a job. So he'd already accepted Bobby's offer in every sense except literally. 

Yes is the first thing Eddie, Hen, and Chim hear as they bring in the food they snuck for Buck. 

"What?" 

"Buck is returning to the 118," Bobby says, looking to Buck for approval. 

"Prodigal son is back!" Hen cheers, handing Buck his favorite candy with a finger to her lips and a grin on her face.

Chimney grins as well and sets an ice-cold bottle on the table. Eddie looks the most stoic with a barely-there smile playing on his lips. He's never been a grinner, of course. 

But Maddie only sees her brother at this moment, looking his happiest. The 6 of them are happy, because the family feels complete again, with the cracks finally mending after 147 days.

**Author's Note:**

> Whew!! Finally got this old af tumblr draft out!! I think it's bad, but maybe you don't. ??? It's finished and it's something, so i digress!


End file.
